PRESENT PROBLEMS OF GEOGRAPHY 663 



Earth's crust upon the distribution of everything upon the surface 

 or in contact with it which is free to move or to be moved. It is a 

 great problem, the full solution of which must be long delayed, but 

 every part of it is a-bud with minor problems of detail, alike in 

 nature, but differing widely in degree. These minor problems claim our 

 attention first, and are so numerous that one fears to attempt their 

 enumeration because of the risk of distracting attention from the 

 main issue. Geography was defined long ago as the science of dis- 

 tribution; but the old idea was statical distribution, the laying- 

 down on maps of where things are; now we see that we ought to go 

 farther, and discuss also how the things came there, why they re- 

 main there, w r hether they are in transit, and, if so, how their path 

 is determined. We are learning to look on distribution from its 

 dynamical side, the earth with all its activities being viewed as a 

 machine at work. The geographer, as an independent investigator, 

 has to deal only with matters touching or affected by the crust of 

 the Earth; his subject is limited to a part only of the economy of 

 the Kosmos, a fact that sometimes seems to be in danger of being 

 forgotten. 



The quantitative relationships of crustal control have to be 

 worked out for different areas with different degrees of detail. A great 

 deal has been done already, and the material for much more has 

 been collected in a form fit for use. The first step in commencing 

 such a discussion is the accurate mapping of all available data - 

 each kind by itself -- for the particular area. On the national, and 

 almost continental scale, this is done better in the United States 

 Census Reports than in any other works known to me. An adequate 

 discussion of all that is shown in the maps accompanying these 

 Reports, and in those of the Coast and Geodetic Survey, the Geo- 

 logical Surveys, and the Department of Agriculture, would be al- 

 most an ideal geographical description. The material provided in 

 such rich profusion by the Federal and State Governments is being 

 used in American universities with an originality and thoroughness 

 that has developed the conception of geography and advanced its 

 scientific position. American geographers more than others have 

 grasped the dynamic idea of geography, and realized that the cen- 

 tral problem is the elucidation of the control or guidance exercised 

 by fixed forms on mobile distributions. 



Detailed work in the same direction has been done by many 

 European geographers, whose works are too well known to require 

 citation; but the geographical treatment of statistics has not been 

 taken up adequately by public departments in the countries east of 

 the Atlantic. To touch only on the instance most familiar to me, 

 with the exception of the maps of the Admiralty, Ordnance, and 

 Geological Surveys, which cannot be surpassed, the maps issued 



